


Ask the Lonely

by wesseling



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Originally Posted on LiveJournal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 11:24:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesseling/pseuds/wesseling
Summary: It’s Christmas Eve.





	Ask the Lonely

It is 24th December, four o’clock in the afternoon and the station is almost deserted by now. The last people are brushing past her, all hurrying home to their families, when she makes her way in CID. Annie had been on her way to her sister herself when she realized she had left one of the presents in her locker. Now standing on the third floor it is so eerily quiet that she feels a little uncomfortable. Quickly she puts the forgotten package in her bag and she is making her way back to the lift when she hears a noise that sounds much like a stapler. Curiously she peeks her head through the office door surprised and yet not so surprised at whom she sees there.

  
“What are you doing here?”

  
Sam Tyler looks up from the massive pile of paper lying in front of him. “Just finishing some paper work.” He states matter of factly.

  
Annie steps closer into the office. Nobody else is here, everybody has gone home, even the Guv.

  
“But it’s Christmas.”

  
“It’s just a holiday.” Sam continues to fill out a form.

  
“It’s not just any holiday. It’s Christmas.”

  
“So?”

  
“Don’t you celebrate it?”

  
“Used to when I was a kid. It was still fun back then. Now,” he leans back in his chair, stretching his arms, “now it’s just too commercialized.”

  
“Commercialized?” Annie gives him a questioning look.

  
“Yeah, it’s a holiday for all the shop keepers, the big industries. People squandering money for more or less useless things. No need to celebrate this.” Annie files this comment under Sam’s odd moments and weird future talks. She has heard enough of those to know not to ask any further questions to explain what he means by it.

  
“Did you celebrate it with Maya?”Annie asks all of a sudden making Sam look at her with total bewilderment, his body tensing as if threatened by a gun.

  
“Maya.” Annie stammers unsure. “That was the name of your girlfriend wasn’t it?”

  
Sam begins to relax again. “We spend the day together, yeah. In the afternoon we went over to my mum. Her mum never really liked me. So…” He shrugs with his shoulders and starts working on the paper work in front of him again. Annie leans against the desk, clearing her voice trying to sound casual.

  
“Why did you break up, you and Maya?”

  
Sam places the pen down and sighs. “I don’t know. It didn’t work out anymore. I guess I had changed. Was all my fault, really.” Annie gives him a sympathetic smile but Sam appears to be lost in thought. There is a short silence between them.

  
“Look, Sam. Why don’t you let the pen rest for twenty-four hours and come with me. My sister and my brother-in-law sure won’t mind a guest. Besides it’s really fun to watch my dad trying to tease the children how he heard Santa on the roof. You should see the look on Allan’s face when he and his older brother come back downstairs, all disappointed that they didn’t got to see Santa and then there are all these presents under the tree waiting for them.” Annie smiles, remembering last year’s holidays.

  
“Is that your nephew who fell of a pier?”

  
“No, that was Robert. He’s the older one.”

  
Annie eyes him expectantly and Sam begins to shift uneasily in his chair.

  
“Erm, thanks for the invitation, Annie. But I’m not good with spreading Christmas cheer. ‘Sides this really needs to be finished. Been lying here for almost a week now.” He bows his head back down, trying to ignore any more attempts from Annie on changing his mind.

  
Annie feels a little disappointed. She can’t work Sam out. One moment she was sure he would say ‘yes’. There had been something in his eyes when she had offered it to him. A glimmer of gratefulness, perhaps? Hope, that he doesn’t have to spend Christmas alone? But then the next second he had blocked his emotions back out. Annie doesn’t know what to make of him but she won’t give up on him that easily. She takes a piece of paper and starts scribbling down her sister’s address.

  
“Well, if you change your mind.” She lays the note on his desk. “Here’s the address.” Sam looks at it and thanks her.

  
“Happy Christmas, Sam.”

  
“Happy Christmas, Annie.”

  
They share a smile and then Annie leaves.

 

*

 

It’s six o’clock when Sam decides he has had enough of paper work for today. The rest could really wait ‘til tomorrow. He puts his jacket on and lets the desk sergeant on duty know to radio in if anything comes up.  
It’s bloody cold outside his breath forming white clouds in the air. He puts on his gloves and hat and starts walking into the night.

 

*

 

He sees his mother standing in the kitchen. She looks exhausted and tired, the dark circles under her eyes making her appear older than she actually is. Sam immediately feels bad. This was the first Christmas without his dad. The first Christmas he and his mum had spent entirely alone as Auntie Heather was in Blackpool with her new boyfriend at the time. He wonders how lonely she must have felt back then – no, how she must feel right now, he corrects himself. Sam wants to go over there, knock on the door, wish her a Happy Christmas and lift her spirits. Maybe she’ll even invite him in. Maybe he can spend Christmas Eve with his imaginary Mum, if not with his real one.

  
He stops in the middle of the road when he sees the young Ruth directing her attention to something below the kitchen counter. All of a sudden her tired face transforms and she is smiling. She bends down and picks up the reason for her mood change, cuddles and kisses the little boy until mother and son both start giggling.

  
Sam smiles at this heartwarming image. He now knows he’s not needed here.

 

 

Holding the note with the address in his hand, Sam continues walking into the cold December night.


End file.
